Mario van Tongeren of the Netherlands spent a lot of time to look at the 16 countries in semi final two – the rehearsals and prepared a word document for ESC Covers with his comments and also what he feels are the chances of the 16 countries to qualify to the final.

In the past two days, all entries from the second Semi-Final had their second rehearsals. The EBU and host broadcaster BBC released 30 second clips of each rehearsal, as it will be on screen during the live broadcast.

Just like with the first Semi-Final, I will talk you through this one and share my thoughts on who I believe will be performing again next Saturday, during the Grand Final.

Here are the two videos

01. Denmark

We see Reiley from Denmark on stage in a pink shiny outfit, all on his own. The stage is full of hearts on a green background and there is a large prop that we know rotates throughout the performance, as the artist moves around with a lot of energy. While it looks alright, I was hoping I could say the same about the sound. Reiley is a bit off-key during this rehearsal. So far, I always thought this would go through as one of the last qualifiers, but having seen this, I’m starting to believe it won’t.

Chance of qualifying: Low.

02. Armenia 

This is absolutely gorgeous.  We see Brunette alone on stage and she is sitting there, while the various colours and patters of the background move to the rhythm around her, like is floating in a sea of beauty. Whoever is in charge of this, creatively, has done a very good job, as this sells perfectly well. Her vocal performance also sounds great, she has a very pleasant voice to listen to.

Chance of qualifying: Very high.

03. Romania

I am aware the well known phrase goes “If you have nothing nice to say, say nothing at all”, but I’m afraid I can’t do that right now, because I’m here to tell you what is going on. What is going on here is absolutely nothing to write home about. The pink outfit he’s wearing is not working well on the eye, the backdrop with the huge white dolls, or whatever they are, does not make sense. The fact that the artist is all alone on stage does weird moves is just not well thought about. Alright, I’ll say one nice thing: the man can sing.

Chance of qualifying: Very low.

04. Estonia

Well, after Romania, we can definitely use a bit of this. The theme is very blue here, there is a blue backdrop, her dress is in blue, and it’s all a very soft blue, it’s very pleasant. Unlike the previous entry, this performer does know how to work the stage all on her own, the movement, the looks, all is lovely. The vocal performance here is impeccable. My only concern is that it’s on quite early on the night, which often does not do this kind of song any good. Had she performed in the second half, the line below would say “Very high”. Nevertheless, I think this will live on.

Chance of qualifying: High.

05. Belgium

We see Gustaph dressed in a white jacket and large pink pants. In front of him dances a dancer in what I would call pink lingerie. The backing vocals are behind him, dressed in black. This gives a strong 80s vibe, with a well thought out staging that flashes strongly into the world’s living rooms. Gustaph sings it very well, nothing bad to say about the vocals here, as we have seen at the Belgian national final and preparties as well. Had there been juries voting in this show, this would have been a non-qualifier, due to the outdated song. However, with 100% televoting, we’re watching a different game.

Chance of qualifying: High.

06. Cyprus

So what do you do when you get offered a Swedish song that may or may not have been rejected for Melodifestivalen this year? You order a lovely looking young gentleman from Australia, you put some nice clothes on him, you get a creative director who knows what looks good on tv, and you sell the whole thing like it’s a valuable diamond.  This looks amazing. We see Andrew on stage on his own, with a beautiful waterfall on the backdrop, adding energy to the performance. His vocal performance is great, especially the higher notes in the chorus are amazing.

Chance of qualifying: Very high.

07. Iceland

What is it with all these delegations opting for just the one artist on stage this year, when that’s not the most suitable option to go for? We see the singer abandoned and alone, in a silver coloured suit, with a tight synthetic top underneath. The whole thing is very dark, also, and I’m not sure why they opted for that. And the one thing she sings about is what this entry lacks: power. It’s a rather middle of the road pop song that will not be remembered for long after the performance. She sings fine, though.

Chance of qualifying: Very low.

08. Greece

Here I feel a bit embarrassed that I thought this is sailing through to the Final, all this time. You hear this in studio version and you think “Hmm.. that’s very different, but interesting. People will like this, somehow”. Then it comes to the big stage, and you see a 16 year old who is a bit lost, all on his own (yes, he too), among some smoke. His movements are strange and not very appealing. But then comes the final nail to the coffin: he sings entirely off-key.

Chance of qualifying: Very low.

09. Poland

Just when you thought the night cannot be saved, comes your knight in shining couture. Poland have successfully turned what was initially a very weak entry into a blooming flower. They have thought of every detail here. The choreography is slick, the warm colours of the stage match the beautiful clothing and even the fact that Blanca’s voice is not the strongest one, to put it nicely, is completely masked away with an incredible piece of vocal mixing, with the backings strongly involved. This is how you do it, people. This is the living proof that everything can be sold if you have the right marketers at work.

Chance of qualifying: High.

10. Slovenia

A lot can be said about this, but honestly, at the same time, not that much can be said. We see a band on a stage, with some minor lighting effects to make it more appealing to the eye. The band is performing a soft rock song, which is pleasant to the ear, as is the lead singer’s voice. It’s incredibly simple, yet incredibly effective. The same can be said about the clothing, there is no glitter here and it’s not needed either. (Nor blood, but we’ll get to that in the next article).

Chance of qualifying: Very high.

11. Georgia

Every year, there has to be at least one dress in this show that can be used as a wedding dress. The honour this year belongs to Iru, who is dressed in a virgin white dress probably available at your local wedding couture store. Around her are two high screens with many sparkles on them, it looks like a trip through the stars. The whole thing is quite enchanting. I was a bit worried about her vocal performance, as it wasn’t always great during the preparties earlier, but here she sounds very good.

Chance of qualifying: Very high.

12. San Marino

Another band has taken to the stage, but this one is more spread out of the stage, with the lead singer in the middle. The colour of clothing is black. Honestly, 30 seconds of this were already too much, for me, as they’ve chosen the shoutiest part of all for that. Sure, the man has a voice, but not every voice that is on the right key is also pleasant to listen to, and this one in particular is very violent to the senses. Add to that that the song is quite weak and outdated and I struggle to see much hope for a happy ending for this.

Chance of qualifying: Very low.

13. Austria

One of the favourites in this Semi-Final is up next. For this Austrian entry, it was always very interesting to see how they would stage it, because something like this typically works very well in an online video, but is more difficult to translate to a large stage. They’ve done it, though. We see the two artists dressed in red and white, and red and black. The colour red is used a lot in the backdrop as well. The backing are standing at the back of the stage, and the whole things comes together quite nicely. Vocally, it is not entirely perfect, but it suffices.

Chance of qualifying: Very high.

14. Albania

I’m very pleasantly surprised with this, I must say. You can see the tremendous work put into this, when comparing to how it was performed previously at Festivali i Këngës. Albina, her siblings and her parents are now much more of a unity on that stage. Especially Albina’s family have been trained to have stage presence, which is something that lacked previously. They seem to be enjoying themselves very much and bring across a very positive vibe. Vocally, it also sounds better than we’ve heard it before. The issue here remains the song, which is really nothing special, in my view, and would normally not make it to the Final. Despite the verdict below, I don’t think this is entirely hopeless, and if it were to be announced as a qualifier, it would make sense. The question is who of the others who are more likely to go through would crash for it.

Chance of qualifying: Low.

15. Lithuania

Monika is back for Lithuania, on her second Eurovision journey. She sings a song that is not very special in itself, but has one very important asset: the chorus. The repetitive chorus that sticks into your head, prompting you to remember it hours later and sing it in your sleep. The staging looks very tasteful, as does the choice of wardrobe. Monika’s vocal performance is also spotless. I think it’s the aforementioned chorus that will eventually push this through to the Final, especially as it’s a 100% televoting show and this is performed quite late in the running order, so viewers will still be “Choo-to-too-toing” as they reach for their phones to vote.

Chance of qualifying: High.

16. Australia

We finish the night with a bang. A big Australian bang. We get a high energy alternative rock performance from this very intriguing band. It has everything: wind, flashes, long hair, an old fashioned car on stage. This is the power Iceland was looking for earlier, Australia took it all. They’ve thought of the clothing, it shines like the classic Eurovision we know, even though the song and style of performance are very special. Great vocal performance as well. These people have come to impress, and they are not fooling around. Australia might just win this Semi-Final and go into the top 10 two days later.

Chance of qualifying: Very high.

That’s all we have for the second Semi-Final! In the next article, I will speak to you about the performance of the six direct finalist: the big five (including the host country) and last year’s winning country, Ukraine.